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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. wind — moving air
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. file — a tool
  6. object — to protest
  7. file — a document
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. object — an aim
  10. object — a thing
  11. file — a line of people
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. wind — moving air
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. cell — a phone
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. pitch — completely
  21. cell — in biology
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. fork — in a road

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com